Stocking a 10g tank

Will do sometime before the weekend ends.(even though it hasnt started). I feel like it is lacking a place for the fish to hide. I want to take the sponge bob house out and put it with my betta in the 5g when he moves in and put in 2 or 3 small rocks to form a cave for them to hide in/behind.
 
6 hasbrosus cories, 6 neons and 2 guppies IMO would be fine in a 10 gallon. If you go with regular cories (panda or such) just get 4. You will still be OK. Otos can be picky about eating. They can also be picky about acclimating. Not a beginner fish IMO.

agreed, you should skip the otos until youre more experienced, i think pygmy cories would be great in the aquarium to eat the uneaten food and there's nothing saying you can't hook up another filter to keep the water more balance. Also try putting some decor from your established 5gal into your 10gal to speed up the cycle
 
1. there's nothing wrong with U/G filters if you're willing to do the w/c's and gravel vac to keep up with them. some people still swear by them.
2. nerdy... you haven't done a tank yet without fish-in cycling. AFAIK this is #3... #2 after you've been shown otherwise.
3. schools are much more likely to take to each other immediately if you add all the fish to a new tank (or newly decorated tank) simultaneously. much less likely to have that odd fish out that slowly deteriorates from stress and dies.
4. the idea that one 90 gal filter is enough and anything more is too much for a 10 gallon is ludicrous... especially a filter with bypass issues. if that were true, this would not have happened... http://www.aquariacentral.com/forum...gnum-250-HOT&p=2186903&viewfull=1#post2186903
5. i too agree that steph has given stellar advice for stocking to a person who wants more species than is healthy for such a small tank. seems she's pretty aware of the limitations.
6. also agree on speeding up that cycle by whatever means possible. to give you an idea, nerdy... this is not all too uncommon... http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?254381-10g-isn-t-cycling-been-7-weeks
7. guppies and neons are not "hide in a cave" type of fish. neons may be "hide behind a plant" fish, but that's about it.
8. there's nothing wrong with aeration... especially when you decide to dump fish in the tank prior to finishing your cycle. nitrosomonas and nitrobacter bacteria are both highly dependent on healthy o2 levels for good growth.
9. my only issue with the U/G filter i saw was the exorbitant price that your "wonderful" store clerk was trying to charge you to get it setup. for jebus sake, it's a grate, a couple of lift tubes and an air stone to get it to work properly.... unless you're interested in an RUGF... in which case, that was still a completely ridiculous price IMHO.
10. interested in the far superior bio-filtration of a UGF or a RUGF, but don't want to have to be limited to cleaning it with a gravel vac? get yourself a sponge filter. the sponge filter can be broken down and removed from the tank for a proper thorough cleaning making cleaning a much simpler process.

last, but not least... NERDY... DO YOUR WATER CHANGES!!! you were given the opportunity to do things the easy way without harming your fish. you refused and came home with extra wet pets prematurely. it is now your responsibility to your wet pets to take responsibility for your own actions. if school and whatever was going to keep you from doing a water change or two every day for weeks on end, you should have waited until that was not your only choice.
 
Thanks for all the feedback.

I never said I was going to buy a ug just that the store swore by them and I havent seen them anywhere else (being used).

I am keeping up with the water changes. In fact I just got done with cleaning both tanks and the bettas bowl thing.

I didnt want to bring home fish to cycle my tank. But I was unable to sway my mom from doing it. I know that I did fish in cycling with the betta and the hex 5 but that was before I knew what it was actually doing to the poor fish. Now that I understand, I dont want to do it again. I am keeping two of the fish because I like them. The other two will either go to a friend or back to the store in exchange for neon tetras instead of the neons they are.

I forgot, the cave thing was if I got some sort of bottom feeder. Probably wont do that until I get a bottom feeder if I ever do. After deciding to keep two of the fish that are cycling my tank, I dont think I will be able to put in cories. The load will just be too high and the tank will be overstocked.


that crazy expensive price for the ug I guess wasnt explained. The grate thing was like $30 and then the power heads were $45. But once again, I never said I was going to get it. The power head cost more than my tank.

Its not that school would ever prevent me from doing it. Just the fact that it takes so long with my small vac. i dont plan on spending 3 hrs every day after school to build a robot anymore. If it takes too long, I quit. With my hw load and the tanks to keep up with the science team is the least of my concerns. Should only be 1 day a week this year! I will always be able to to water changes. They might get delayed half a day, but they will get done. I can promise that.

I know that pleanty of people still do fish in cycling. I dont like it, but it is what I ended up doing. I will probably add some gravel and stuff from the 5g to the 10g tomorrow or tonight. When i find something that will allow water flow but not let the gravel out.
Dundadundun, what is your opinion with adding a second pf10 filter? I know you mentioned something in that massive post but I didnt quite get it.
 
please don't respond to me as if i put words in your mouth when i'm simply giving you information. it really does come off as if you're not listening at all. you mentioned the ugf... there was opinions expressed about ugf's... i personally don't like them but recognize the superior biological filtration they offer when utilized and maintained correctly. i also think you should have taken the sales strategy of your LFS as a clue to what their priorities are. as-in... it's not you. ;) that's all. without reading back, i seriously doubt i implied you were anything about a ugf other than curious... which is understandable.

about the pf10... nope... if i were to suggest a whisper hob, it would be an old 30-60 with the adjustable output... or even a whisper 20-40 (also with adjustable output). however... i'd suggest modifying either one of them to accept poly-quilt batting as a means for fine filtration and doing away with the carbon altogether.

I am keeping up with the water changes.
to what extent?

the cave would surely have the necessary bacteria on it if the tank it's in is indeed cycled. however... cycled means 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite... nothing more, nothing less.

i tried to give you a micron bag that would hold your gravel in your filter... but you didn't want to pay for the box. ;) actually, it's one thing i'm actually going to keep. never know when it'll come in handy and it takes up literally no room.
 
I NEVER meant to insult your or anything. My goal here is to keep a fish tank in working order. The reason I say the pf10 is because it is cheap and the same model I already have running the tank right now. For ease of only needing one type of filter thing. But if I went the way you said with the other stuff, I guess it wouldnt matter much.

Water changes, every two days just like you said. At the start, a bit off schedule but with this weekend should be right on every two days.

I wanted the stuff that you were going to send me but after buying the tank and stuff, I really didnt want to spend the $. I think I can find something to put some gravel in the tank/filter with.

I might not reply to anything for a while. I am messing around with the betta of windows 8 right now and it takes some getting used to. Plus this hdd wont be in this computer. The one with windows 8 will be.
 
your situation has changed and you're now cycling with fish in. now your water changes are for the sake of your fish, not for the sake of your bacteria. over 4-5ppm is bad for your bacteria, but anything measurable at all is bad for your fish. since you decide to fish-in cycle i said twice daily (2 times a day) for a bit... then 1 time a day thereafter. ;) you really should read back before you reply...

anyway... some threads you should look through....
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?254323-how-fast-should-I-stock

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?254141-36bf-cycling-after-substrate-change.
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?254409-36BF-cycle-making-progress

as far as trying to keep with the same type of filtration in 2 filters, it kind of defeats the purpose of having 2 filters, IMHO. i think you'd be much better off with a sponge filter for biological and a HOB for particulate filtration/removal than 2 pf-10's.

hmmm... this one too... http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?254486-Ammonia-Level-Spike-(
 
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Ok, thanks for the tip on the filter. Dont plan on buying right now, but in the future will consider.

As for w/c I thought you said every two days. I have been keeping steady with that. In fact, I just did one earlier today. I guess I could do every day if you think it is necessary.
 
a few things off the top of my head:
1) IMO a second filter isnt really needed, but neither will it hurt. if the flow is too much you can always put a sponge over in intake (what I did with my PF10 on my 10g). it can only serve as another place for bacteria to colonize, and will up your tank's ability to filter out the waste produced by its inhabitants.

2) I would return the fish (ALL of the ones in the 10g) NOW, and save yourself the trouble of having to do constant water changes. a fishless cycle will be better in the long run anyways, because as someone else pointed out earlier, you'll have to go through another mini-cycle when you try to add your current stock in.

3)if you really must keep the two fish you have now which you like (what are they, by the way? if they're another schooling fish like rasbora, tetra or barb you wont be able to keep them anyways, and IMO you dont have room for platies or especially for swords or mollies anyways) then you could keep them in your (i'm assuming already cycled) 5g for now and do 50% water changes every day or every other day and underfeed the fish until the cycle is done.

4) a little off topic- but I wouldnt put anything bubbling into a tank with a better; all mine (currently have 3 males and 5 females, have had many before) seem to prefer the water's surface to be somewhat still- they seem to like lower water movement in general, especially the boys, of which all have quite long, heavy fins. the girls even dont like when I turn the filter up in their 10g, although they dont mind if there is a smaller current that they can play in. in a 5g, a bubbler will IMO make it too turbulent, especially if there is already a power filter on there (which I assume there is), especially for longer-finned males like crowntails, halfmoons, deltas, super deltas, and double tails (basically anything but plakats, females and veiltails).
 
Ok, I wont put anything bubbly in the tank with the betta

Idk what the other fish are, I would have to go back to the pet shop and look.

I dont think that putting the other fish in the 5g would be very good. It would overstock the tank and leave my 10g w/o a source of ammo and other bacteria. I actually prefer doing water changes on the 10g rather than the 5g. Idk why, I just do.

I might consider bringing them back, but I want a couple more opinions first.
 
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